By Swaziland Media Commentary
More than 200,000 people in Swaziland / eSwatini which is one in five of the rural population are experiencing severe food shortages and require urgent humanitarian assistance, a report published on Tuesday (2 July 2019) stated.
And, hunger has got worse since last year. There are about 157,000 people in a ‘crisis situation’ and another 47,000 in an ‘emergency situation’.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) snapshot for the period up to March 2020 stated, ‘In comparison with last year, the situation has deteriorated.’ It added, ‘This deterioration can be attributed to the anticipated drought, which led to farmers choosing not to plant their fields, reducing casual labour opportunities and food availability, with one-fifth of households depleting their assets or engaging in crisis or emergency coping strategies to mitigate moderate to large food gaps. Read more…
